Needless to say, Clark feels even more conflicted, as his father has tried to tell him to suppress his powers, but Clark was torn by a need to help others. When Clark demands to know what's wrong with him, Jonathan shows his son the pod he came to Earth in, along with a strange metallic item that was found with him.
Jonathan claims he had a metallurgist examine it, but it is comprised of elements not found on Earth. Imprinted on the small fragment of metal is a shield-like shape containing an "S". The scene then returns to the present day, where Clark has a job at a truck stop in Canada. As he works, he hears some military men talking quietly about some object found in the ice a ways north of the stop.
When a trucker comes in and starts harassing one of the waitresses, Clark attempts to stop him, but afraid others will see his powers, stands there and takes the trucker's taunts. Without saying a word, Clark takes off his apron and leaves the stop. Later, as the trucker leaves, he is shocked to find his rig impaled on several of the tree logs he was hauling.
The scene then cuts to Lois Lane (Amy Adams), landing at the base in Canada, where she is met by Professor Emil Hamilton (Richard Schiff), and Colonel Nathan Hardy (Christopher Meloni). Drilling is still commencing within the ice to get to uncover the craft, but ice drilling tests have at least confirmed that the ice surrounding the object is thousands of years old.
Going out in the evening to shoot some pictures, Lois is shocked when she checks them to see a man walking on a ridge near the drilling site without cold-weather clothing. She sneaks up to where he was, and finds a tunnel bored into the ice. The tunnel is Clark's doing, as he had followed the word of the military men, and made his way to the site, using his heat vision to tunnel into the ice.
He then finds a strange spacecraft, and going inside, finds a panel that opens up. It contains a hole, that seems to match the shape of the object his father found with him in the pod. Inserting the object the hole causes a person to suddenly appear nearby. He doesn't say a word, simply walking off. Clark attempts to catch up to this person, but he always seems to be several steps ahead of him.
Meanwhile, Lois has found her way onto the ship, but is attacked by a sentry. Her screams cause Clark to come running. After dismantling the sentry by crushing it with his bare hands, he sees that the sentry has wounded Lois in her lower abdomen. He tells her she's bleeding internally and uses his heat vision to cauterize the wound.
Shortly after, military forces nearby are all amazed when the ice starts to crack and a giant ship emerges, flying off. Lois is found the next day and shortly thereafter she writes up an article about what she experienced. However, her editor at the Daily Planet, Perry White (Laurence Fishburne), refuses to publish it. Even the Pentagon has denied her 'aliens and spaceships' story.
Lois then attempts to play hard ball. Going to a contact of hers named Glen Woodburn (Chad Krowchuk), she allows him to publish her story. Though he cautions that she could get in trouble for leaking the story, she claims she wants to do this, in hopes that it will catch the attention of the person she met.
Meanwhile, Clark has piloted the spaceship to another remote location in the Arctic. It turns out the figure he was following is a hologram of his Father Jor-El, who is appearing via the 'key' Clark inserted into the ship. Jor-El explains the history of the planet Krypton and that the ship Clark found was a sentry ship sent out many years before, when the the council of Krypton had attempted to colonize other planets.
Jor-El shows Clark a dark blue and red suit bearing the shielded "S". Jor-El explains that it is the emblem of the House of El and a symbol of hope. Jor-El also explains that the planet's sun has made Clark stronger, and has been helping him manifest powers for some time.
Jor-El tells Clark that the suit will symbolize his mission: to help the people of Earth and act as their guardian. Stepping outside the ship, Clark begins to push his powers: first taking flying leaps, before eventually being able to fly at great speeds, breaking the sound barrier and flying great distances around the world.
Back in Metropolis, Perry White is furious that Lois leaked her story to the internet, and suspends her for three weeks. Lois uses this time to begin tracking down leads to her mystery man. Her sleuthing leads her to Smallville, and eventually, Martha Kent.
Visiting the grave of Jonathan Kent, she is surprised when her mystery man appears (albeit in nondescript clothing). Lois claims she wants to tell Clark's story, but he tells her of how he abides by his father's request to not reveal himself until the world 'was ready.' Clark then relates how Jonathan died.
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